


For Real

by sottovocexo



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Day At The Beach, Day Off, F/M, Falling In Love, Fun, Ghosts, Luke Patterson Loves Julie Molina, Real Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sottovocexo/pseuds/sottovocexo
Summary: Luke, Alex, and Reggie suddenly stop being ghosts for one day. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Kayla/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 301





	1. Chapter 1

Luke was lounging in the chair, guitar pick in his mouth, strumming through some new chords he had come up with. Reggie and Alex were arguing over which Star Wars was the best, now that they had seen eight more.

“And they killed _Luke_ too!” Reggie grabbed his chest and paced toward the doors. “I can’t take any more of this. I need to clear my head.” But instead of orbing out, he walked smack into the garage doors, tumbling backward.

“Reggie?” Alex said as Luke laughed. “Forget how to be a ghost or something?”

Just then, one of the chairs hanging from the ceiling shook loose, crashing on top of Reggie instead of going through him.

Alex and Luke jumped up and pulled him out from under the chair.

“Dude, what’s the matter with you?” Luke hissed.

“I...don’t know,” Reggie moaned. “I couldn’t get out.”

Footsteps sounded outside. “Julie!” Ray called out, his voice muffled outside. “I heard a crash. Everything okay? Julie!”

“Aww, Ray came to check on you,” Alex teased, poking fun at Reggie’s one-sided friendship with Julie’s dad. “How sweet.”

But when Ray swung open the garage doors, he stood stock-still, his jaw on the floor. “Uh… Who are you?”

Wide-eyed, Luke and Alex looked at each other, then let go of Reggie’s arms, who fell flat on his back.

Alex gasped. “You can…?”

“See us?” Luke finished.

Ray folded his arms. “What in the world is going on here? Wait...don’t I know you?” He walked up to the boys. “You play in Julie’s band. Right?”

“Uh…” Luke stammered.

Julie came running in. “Dad! What’s--” She laughed a little seeing Reggie on the floor. “Oh, man. What happened to you?”

“That’s what I was wondering,” Ray said, turning to Julie.

Julie turned back to the boys, stunned. “He can…?”

Alex pursed his lips. “Yeah.”

“How…?” Julie whispered.

“No clue,” Alex sighed.

“This is your band?” Ray said to Julie. “Why didn’t you tell me they were in town?”

“I...didn’t know!” Julie said.

“Yeah, we surprised her!” Luke said, playing along, as Alex helped Reggie get to his feet. “Surprise!” the three of them shouted in unison.

“Well! What a nice surprise. Eh, Julie? I’m so glad I can finally thank you in person for what you’ve done for my Julie. Boys, why don’t you come on in for lunch?” Ray said, leading the way. “I’ll fire up the grill!”

When Ray was out of earshot, Julie ran up to the boys. “What in the actual world?! Why can my dad see you?”

“No idea!” Luke said, throwing his arms up.

Reggie patted his stomach. “If we’re suddenly whole then does that mean we can eat too? I don’t want Ray to go through all that trouble if it’s going to pass right through me.”

“Are you not...ghosts?” Julie asked, her eyes immediately locking with Luke. She let herself smile at the thought.

“Only one way to find out,” Luke said.

When they walked into the house, the boys looked around like it was all new, even though nothing had changed but them.

“Ghosts!” Carlos shouted as he ran down the stairs. “I can’t believe it!”

“Shhh!” Julie shouted, running up to Carlos and covering his mouth. “I don’t know what happened, but Dad can see them. And you too. But he doesn’t know they’re ghosts! _Don’t_ say anything.”

Carlos only stared. “I can’t believe this…”

“Hey!” Luke said, high-fiving Carlos. “Good to meet you, little man.”

“Guys, get in here!” Ray said. In the kitchen, he was dropping off a tray of freshly grilled meat on the countertop. “I made my specialty: hot dogs and burgers.”

The boys slowly approached the counter, staring. They looked down at the tray of perfectly charred hot dogs and crispy buns. Alex started heaving, turning around and trying to cover his gags. Luke and Reggie exchanged a terrified look.

“Uh...we’ll take the burgers,” Luke said, pointing at the tray of cheeseburgers on the other end of the counter.

Seated at the table, Ray led them in a family prayer, even pulling a couple of extra seats up from the living room for them. After a hesitant bite, Luke started eating first. The hamburger was amazing. So amazing. Like he hadn’t had real food--non-Ghost Club food--in a quarter century.

“I haven’t eaten in 25 years!” he exclaimed, already grabbing another burger from his plate while Alex and Reggie tested their burgers.

Ray laughed. ‘That’s good! I remember being that hungry at your age. Eat up. There’s plenty to go around.”

“Oh my gosh… This is amazing,” Reggie said dreamily. “I knew he was a man who could barbecue,” he said, snapping his fingers.

Ray clasped his hands under his chin. “So, tell me, boys. Where is it you’re visiting from again?”

Worried, Luke looked at Julie. “Sweden!” she said. “They’re living in Sweden.”

“You don’t have accents,” Ray pointed out.

“We moved there a few years ago,” Luke said. “Before that…”

“We were on the East Coast!” Alex finished for him. “We’ve moved all over.”

“It’s amazing that you all found each other across the world,” Ray said. “I cannot wrap my head around that kind of technology.”

“Yeah...it’s something else,” Luke said, looking at Julie.

“How long are you in town for?” Ray asked.

“It’s...anybody’s guess,” Luke said, covering his nervousness with a laugh.

“Who really knows how long any of us have on this side?” Reggie asked.

“That’s...very philosophical of you,” Ray said, narrowing his eyes. “So...are you guys playing any good gigs while you’re in town?”

“No!” Julie spat out. “I mean...I don’t think that’d be a good idea. They just landed after such a long flight and...this will be a great time to get to the bottom of this. Erm! Get to know each other. Yeah.”

Luke leaned close to Julie. “Nice save,” he whispered.

“We all have so much to talk about!” Julie hissed.

“We need to find Willie,” Alex said to Luke. “Like, _now_.”

“You’re leaving already?” Ray said. “Well, you are all welcome to stay in the studio as long as you’re here. This will be a fun time.”

“Thanks so much for lunch!” Reggie said. “It was amazing. Like, the-best-meal-I’ve-ever-had amazing.”

Ray laughed. “All right. Happy to hear it. Julie, are you headed out too?”

“Yeah…” Julie said, pushing out her chair from the table. “We better be off. See you later, Dad! But I won’t stay out too late, promise.”

Julie and the boys rushed out the front door, collecting themselves on the front porch.

“We...ate that food!” Luke said. “And we can’t orb! Does that mean…” He reached out for Julie’s hand. For the first time, when she took his hand, he could feel the warmth of her palm. She jolted at the shock of their touch.

“We’re not ghosts,” Alex said, watching their interaction. “What if I can’t even see Willie?” he added sadly.

Luke patted him on the back. “Either way, he’ll help us get to the bottom of this. Let’s see if he’s out skating the Strip.”

“Ugh! I haven’t walked this much in forever,” Reggie said, taking two steps off the porch. “Getting to the Strip is going to be awful.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Julie said, patronizing him.

Alex followed Reggie off the porch, leaving Luke and Julie next to each other. Luke looked down at her, excitement and wonder filling his eyes.

“This could be our chance,” he said, squeezing her hand tighter and brushing wisps of her hair with his other.

“I can’t believe you’re real,” Julie said, leaning her cheek into his hand. “I don’t know what this means for us, but...I’m glad you’re here. _Really_ here.”

She beamed up at him and he broke into a grin seeing her expression. He felt so much lighter standing there with Julie, full-bodied and full of hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's just getting started now that the boys are real!! Thanks so much for reading. The other chapters will be going up soon, so keep following along! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Julie and the Phantoms walked Sunset Boulevard on the hunt for Willie. If anyone knew what was going on, Willie would.

“Willie!” they all took turns whispering loudly on the street. “Willie, we need your help!”

Alex’s face fell. “I don’t think we’ll be able to see him. Not like this. I hope he can still hear us.”

Julie smiled and laid a hand on Alex’s back in reassurance. “He’ll know. You guys are connected. Maybe he can sense you need help.”

“Not quite...but I can hear my name being shouted up and down Sunset,” Willie said, but he was nowhere in sight.

“Willie?” Alex called out. “Are you here?”

Willie chuckled. “Do I need to put a sheet on? What’s going on with you guys? I can see you but you can’t see me?”

Alex sighed and reached out for Willie, but he would have to wait a little longer to connect with Willie it seemed. “Today, we found out we can’t orb and Julie’s family can actually see us. So can all these people apparently!”

“Hey, how ya doin’?” Reggie said, winking at cute girls as they walked past.

“I’ve never heard of something like this happening,” Willie said. “Wait, actually… Caleb mentioned something like this once. He said one day a year, some ghosts can become lifers for the day. Ghosts like you and him that already have the power to appear to certain lifers. That day must be today.”

“Like Day of the Ghost?” Reggie asked.

“Guess so!” Wilie said. "It has something to do with the shortest day of the year--that's when you guys can cross over into the land of the living."

“So does that mean Caleb is roaming around too?” Luke asked.

“I think this is usually when he courts lifers for his Club. Like a fundraising event,” Willie explained.

“Well, let’s just avoid him,” Luke said, shivering at the thought.

“So...this only lasts for one day?” Julie asked, her voice low, unable to disguise her disappointment. “At midnight, they’ll be ghosts again?”

“I think that’s how it works,” Willie said.

Luke looked down at Julie, sharing the sadness in her gaze.

“Well, I’m a little relieved to hear that,” Alex said, wishing he could see Willie.

“I’ll catch you guys later,” Willie said. “I’ll try to find Caleb and keep a close eye on him today, make sure he doesn’t get anywhere near you.”

“Thanks, Willie,” Alex breathed. “See you tomorrow.”

And just like that, Willie was gone.

When Alex looked at the group, Reggie was scribbling on a notepad he’d pulled out of his pocket. “What are you doing?” Alex asked.

“Making a list of everything we need to accomplish by midnight if we still have a few hours left of being lifers,” Reggie said.

Alex ripped the list out of his hand and started reading them aloud: “‘Chug every new flavor of soda they’ve invented in the past 25 years. Try all the new restaurants at the beach. Get revenge on Bobby face to face.' Wait....does this say, 'Kiss Cindy Crawford.’ Dude, why?!”

“I may never get another chance!” Reggie yelled, taking his list back.

“You never had a first chance,” Luke said, high-fiving Alex at the insult.

Julie shook her head. “Whatever. Guys. We need to make sure we can keep you disguised today so Caleb doesn’t find you! Or anyone else who knows you, for that matter! It’s going to be hard to explain why you’ve suddenly come back to life…” She pulled out her cell phone. “I’m going to text Flynn an SOS--she can grab some hats and sunglasses to keep you covered for now. Let’s meet her at the pier.”

They all hung around the beach waiting for Flynn to arrive while trying to keep a low profile. When Flynn arrived, she gasped and ran up to the four of them.

“The cute ghosts are real!?” she exclaimed. “You should’ve called me _way_ sooner!” She sidled up to Reggie and tried to stick a hand through his arm, but she ended up poking him instead.

“Hey,” Reggie said, a smolder on his face. “How you doing?”

Flynn batted her lashes and blushed while Julie rolled her eyes. “Did you bring what I asked for?” she asked.

“Uh...I did,” Flynn started. “But if I’d known it was for the cute ghosts, I wouldn’t have grabbed all this.” She held open her large bag, revealing fuzzy bucket hats, cat-eye sunglasses and wide scarves.

“We’re supposed to wear those?” Luke asked. “Nuh-uh. No way. I may only be alive for one day, but my style isn’t dead.”

Julie grabbed a pink, fuzzy bucket hat and forced it on Luke’s head. “Well you’ll be super dead if anyone finds you! Like Caleb! So wear it and shut up.”

Luke pouted while he put on white cat-eye sunglasses. Reggie excitedly grabbed some of the funky fashion and put it on while Alex shrugged off his new ensemble, a green beret and pink oversized sunglasses.

Flynn gasped. “Carrie’s coming!” Carrie and Kayla were quickly approaching them.

“Hide!” Julie shouted, pushing Luke out of the way.

Reggie jumped into a nearby bush. “Ow! That hurt. Things hurt again!”

Alex collapsed onto the bench behind them, pulling a newspaper over his face.

Luke leaned against a lamppost, his elbow propped up and a hand behind his head, “acting normal.”

At the flurry of movement, Carrie glanced around. “What are you freaks up to?”

When Reggie spotted Kayla, he popped out of the bush, but Flynn quickly pushed him back down. She covered it up with laughter, but Carrie simply rolled her eyes.

“Oh, you know, just strolling along the beach with my bestie!” Julie linked arms with Flynn. “Nothing unusual over here. Why would you say that?” Julie glanced over at Luke, who was watching on out of the corner of his eye, totally in plain sight. “Well, shouldn’t you be going!” Julie said.

Carrie narrowed her eyes. “I really can’t believe we were ever friends. Come on, Kayla. I’ve got Dad’s credit card.”

When they left, Julie and Flynn heaved huge sighs of relief. Then, Julie ran over to Luke. “Luke, you didn’t even hide!”

“Yes, I did!” He frowned and turned his cheek. “See? That was my good side. I hid it.”

Julie rolled her eyes. “Let’s just get back to the house before anyone else sees you.”

“No, don’t go this soon!” Flynn said, helping Reggie out of the bush. “I hardly ever get to see my eye candy.” Reggie blushed.

As Julie started walking away, Luke grabbed her hand, pulling her back. “Julie,” he whined. “Please don’t make us go. We’re _alive_ again. You don’t know how that feels. And we only have a few more hours. Can’t we enjoy it?”

“Just don’t go and get yourselves killed...again,” Flynn said, laughing.

“Luke is right,” Alex said to Julie. “Normally, you know I would want to be the reasonable one. But we’re not going to get another day like this for a long time. Ever since we found out we were ghosts, you don’t know what I would’ve given for one more day like this.”

Julie turned back to Luke, convinced by his adorable puppy-dog eyes. “Fine,” she conceded, trying to hide her smile at his cute expression. “What do you want to do?”

Luke, Alex and Reggie all looked at each other, huge smiles on their faces, like they’d been waiting 25 years for someone to say just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's still a few hours of fun left in store for the boys. :)


	3. Chapter 3

The afternoon was set: the Phantoms spent the day at the pier riding every single carnival ride and coaster in sight.

After his tenth time riding the coaster, Reggie could hardly see straight. As Julie and Flynn waited for the boys on the pier, Reggie stumbled forward.

“I hurled _three_ times,” Reggie said. “Do you know how good that felt?!”

“Uh… terrible?” Flynn asked, one eyebrow raised.

“You lifers,” Reggie said, shaking his head. “You don’t appreciate what you have.”

“Man, Julie, this is the best day ever!” Luke exclaimed. “You have no idea what it’s like to feel the wind on your face again. To feel that rush! Whoo!”

“Wow...I guess I take a lot for granted,” Julie said sadly.

“Thanks for letting us take a few hours,” Luke said, smiling.

“Anything else you need to do?” she asked.

“One more thing.” He smirked, linking his hand with hers, and started strolling down the pier just the two of them.

As they swung their arms, hand in hand on the pier, Luke relished in the sea breeze on his face. The guys could do a lot as ghosts--but it was the tactile experience of being human they missed most. The chill of the breeze and the warmth of Julie’s hand in his. There was nothing quite like it in the afterlife.

“Julie, I want you to know something…” Luke started. He spun her around to a stop at the end of the pier. “Today has been so much fun, believe me. Getting to be real for one day is amazing. But… it doesn’t matter if I ever get to be a lifer again. What you and I have is real. I feel most alive when I’m singing with you.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. She bounced on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek, her warmth permeating through him. Honestly, it was similar to how she made him feel when she hit a perfect note or the two of them found the perfect lyric. They were so connected it didn’t matter whether he was a ghost or a lifer. He was most himself with her.

“And the only thing that could make this day better would be playing a gig together,” Luke said.

“Wait...maybe there is a way we can do this and keep your covers!” Julie said. “A midnight concert! If we finish our song by 12, you’ll automatically poof away. No one would ever know! And maybe you could even get a minute or two of applause.”

Luke’s eyes lit up. “Let’s do it!”

\---

Julie and the boys reconvened at her house, where Ray was making dinner before the show at the beach.

While Ray was putting the finishing touches on the meal, Reggie leaned forward on the counter. “You know, Ray, it is so good to talk to you. Like, really talk to you.”

Ray laughed. “The feeling is mutual.”

Reggie turned to Alex. “You hear that? The feeling is mutual. My dream come true!”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“I’m so glad to hear you all are going to be playing a show together while you’re in town,” Ray said. “You’ve made this house come alive again. Julie’s mom loved music just as much as you guys. Maybe more.” He retrieved a picture frame of Julie’s mom from the living room, holding it in his hands on the counter.

Staring at the photo, Reggie’s jaw dropped. Luke looked over at Alex, then back at the photo.

“Rose…” Luke said.

“We know her,” Alex added quickly.

“You...knew my wife?” Ray asked. He laughed. “How is that even possible? Did you...know her music?”

Luke looked up at him, tears in his eyes. “Yeah… Yeah, that’s it.”

“That’s incredible,” Ray said, shaking his head. “It feels good to talk about her. You know? I don’t get many chances anymore. I met her probably when I was around your age.”

Julie drifted closer, shocked, tears in the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t find the words to say. So she listened in.

“I can tell you all miss her so much,” Luke said. “I know a little bit about how that feels.” He turned to Julie. “Julie is so strong to keep playing music. I know she does it for her mom.”

“I can’t thank you all enough for bringing my little girl back to music,” Ray said. “She reminds me so much of her mom when she plays.”

“A dead ringer!” Reggie said. “I mean, judging from that photo. That I can see. Right there in your hand. Not for any other reason.” Alex elbowed him.

“Luke?” Julie asked, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and folded her hands in front of her. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Luke bit his bottom lip and nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

The two walked out back. Luke looked over at Julie. “Everything okay?”

“You knew my mom?” Julie asked, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I had no idea, believe me!” Luke said, placing his hands on her arms. “We met her the night we...well, you know...died. She was at the Orpheum. Trust me, if I had known it was her, I would have told you so much sooner.”

Julie tried to smile through the tears. “I believe you. I just can’t believe...you really saw my mom. I wonder where she is now. Did she have unfinished business? Did she cross over?”

“I don’t know,” Luke said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever find out.”

“What was she like back then?” Julie asked, trying to think of the positive.

Luke smiled. “She thought we sounded really good, the night we played. She was like an audience of one. Our first--and last--real audience.” He reached up and wiped a tear from Julie’s eye. She smiled.

“Guess front-row seats to Sunset Curve run in the family,” Julie said, breaking into a big smile.

“Speaking of…” Luke bounced on his toes. “You ready to rehearse? This is going to be the show of our lives.”

“I’m ready,” Julie said, because as long as she had the guys at her side, whether as apparitions or flesh and blood, she could do anything.

“Good!” Luke said, tightening his hold on her hand and widening his smile. “Because we’ve got a song to write. And I think I’ve got the perfect idea of what it should be about.”

\---

The band set up on the beach as a crowd gathered near. It was time to bow out until this time next year.

Julie stepped up to the microphone first.

“Thank you, everyone, for being here tonight! We are Julie and the Phantoms and we have a new song to perform. It’s about the way music and love can give anything life. It came together pretty quick, but we hope you like it!”

She gripped the microphone nervously and started singing.

_Been so long, now this house has come to life_  
_You can’t always see what’s real_  
_But the walls are singing_  
_On this new foundation I’m standing_  
_Looking out with you_

The boys joined in with her singing as they hit the first chorus.

_Don’t stop now_  
_Your life is yours to choose_  
_Find all the clues_  
_That make you you_  
_No autopilot, set flight_  
_To the dreams alive in every part of you_

Luke made eye contact with Julie, this next verse a testament to her.

_Been so long since I’ve come alive_  
_All this time, I thought living was just a feeling_  
_Of wind on my face_  
_Of flesh and my bones_  
_But it’s what I feel with you_

He couldn’t help but break into a grin as the entire band segued into the bridge.

_Find what’s real_  
_Seize the day_  
_It’s your life_  
_So pay your dues_  
_And bring to life what’s inside of you_

They closed out the song clapping as the audience roared and cheered.

_Don’t stop now_  
_Your life is yours to choose_  
_Find all the clues_  
_That make you you_  
_No auto pilot, set flight_  
_Your dreams are alive all around you_

The applause sounded loud when they finished playing. Breathlessly, the band all looked at one another, amazed at how fast it had all come together, and how fast their day of being lifers had ended. It was one minute from midnight. So they linked hands and took their bow, basking in the applause that had eluded them, loving the way it thumped through their souls. Then, Julie stood back up as the boys poofed away.

And just like that, everything went back to normal. But that didn’t make what they had any less real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the first song I’ve tried to write, so I’m sorry if it was terrible 😅 Thanks, everyone, for reading along! Let me know what you thought below!


End file.
